An outraged motorist grabbed his phone and started filming after spotting a council parking enforcement officer ticketing other parked cars – when he’d parked his own car on double yellow lines.

The parking officer said nothing as the man confronted him in an incident which happened in Bristol earlier this month - but council chiefs said today he 'had no choice' but to park there to ticket someone else for parking on the zig-zags outside a local primary school.

It happened on Eton Road, Brislington, close to Holymead Primary School. The parking officer had parked his car on the double yellow lines at the western end of the residential road.

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Double yellow lines were only recently painted onto the road in that spot by Bristol City Council to discourage motorists parking dangerously on the corner of the junction with Winchester Road.

Still image from Dean Cameron's video of a Bristol City Council parking enforcement officer parked on double yellow lines (Image: Dean Cameron)

The film, posted on Facebook by Dean Cameron, shows the council employee getting back into his vehicle and driving off as the man filming said: “I’ll just get a video of you parked on double yellows, giving people tickets on their cars, while you’re parked on double yellow lines.”

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A spokesperson for Bristol City Council explained that the parking officer had no choice but to park on double yellow lines.

“Our Civil Enforcement Officer was stopping to issue a penalty notice to someone blocking a school zigzag marking and had nowhere else to park safely," said a spokesperson.

"Under the Traffic Management Act, a civil enforcement officer can park on double yellow lines while carrying out their duties. However, we will be reminding our officers to avoid doing this and park responsibly and legally at all times," he added.

A similar video posted in Cornwall recently prompted the council there to explain that the rules sometimes do not apply for council vehicles.

Still image from Dean Cameron's video of a Bristol City Council parking enforcement officer parked on double yellow lines (Image: Dean Cameron)

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“There are exemptions for liveried council vehicles to park on double yellow lines when officers are carrying out statutory duties or work that requires the vehicle to be in close proximity,” a council spokesman said in Cornwall.

"While we would prefer staff to observe parking restrictions, there are occasions when for operations reasons vehicles need to be parked close by,” he added.